Maid-Rite Special Sauce

1 large onion, chopped

Shredded cabbage

Dill pickles, chopped

Mustard and mayonnaise

Heat oven for lightly toasting the hamburger buns. Brown loose meat and season with salt and pepper. Drain off nearly all fat. Add a small amount of water to keep meat “juicy.” Prepare sauce by mixing all ingredients in a bowl. The amount of mustard and/or mayo to make the sauce is a matter of preference.

Each person prepares his/her own MAID-RITE. Spoon loose meat with a slotted spoon onto warmed hamburger bun. Top with special sauce and sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top. Serve with potato chips. Enjoy!

Comment: This is the original MAID-RITE recipe according to my mom. She has been making these hamburgers since 1939 and had the honor of eating her first ones in Muscatine, Iowa *home of the MAID-RITE sandwiches*. Go here to read more about Mom’s 1939 experience…

Comment: You can trust this non-steamed recipe tastes eerily like the first constructed MAID-RITES!

Browned and seasoned hamburger meat.

The sauce really is the secret.

Pssst! – All media used in my blogs are either acquired by payment for their use, or don’t require licensing for public use. Often, I use my own personal photos. Please play it safe and don’t recycle images, okay? (P.S. This one of Joanna Barnes from “War Wagon” is free for all. Borrow like crazy if you want!)

“I wouldn’t be a saloon girl if I hadn’t borrowed all those media images without asking.” ~ Wikipedia Commons image

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How about wandering around my website a bit? It's guaranteed non-toxic. Y’all come back soon, okay?

If you like Sassy, Danger and Mystery ... you'll love my All-Age fiction series, Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves. Book One, Summer of the Ancient and Book Two, Canyon of Doom are available at your nearest Barnes & Noble Bookseller, on my website, Amazon, B&N.com and more. For your convenience, they're also available for your Kindle, the Nook and most other eBook readers.

Canyon of Doom: Stealing money isn’t the aim of the Mesa Redondo bank robbers. They want the mysterious metal object Silki and her best friend Birdie discovered in the bogs at Canyon Daacha. With Birdie headed up to Kayenta for the rest of the summer, Silki navigates wide-eyed and solo through a whirl of thievery, scary characters, lost artifacts, and a shadowy stranger Silki dubs “Amber Eyes.” Against a backdrop of Monsoon season floods and quicksand, Silki’s plight is complicated by the hateful slurs of a rebellious cousin her family must rescue before it’s too late. Soon, Silki finds herself smack dab in the middle of a plot stretching all the way back to World War II and reaching right into the very soul of her own family.

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Jodi Lea Stewart was born in Texas and grew up in Apache County on a cattle ranch near Concho, Arizona. She left the University of Arizona in Tucson to move to San Francisco, where she learned about peace, love and exactly what she didn't want to do with her life. Since then, Jodi graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Business Management, raised two children, worked as an electro-mechanical drafter, penned humor columns for a college periodical, wrote regional western articles and served as managing editor of a Fortune company newsletter. She currently resides in Texas and New Mexico with her husband, two Standard poodles, two rescue cats and numerous gigantic, bossy houseplants. Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves: SUMMER OF THE ANCIENT is her first novel. CANYON OF DOOM is her second novel in the Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves series.

I think it’s because they never tasted good homemade soup. After they do, canned soup *invented in 1897* just doesn’t cut it.

My mission, if I choose to accept it, is to share my best soup recipes so Americans can wean themselves off canned soup. Will it work?

*Almost* Homemade Chicken Soup

2 chicken breasts with bones, skin & some fat removed

1 bay leaf

1 lg. onion, chopped or sliced

2 stalks celery, including leaves, sliced

½ head cabbage, coarsely sliced

1 large potato cut into chunks

1 large or 2 med. tomatoes

1-8 oz. can mixed vegetables

1 pkg. dry Ramen noodle soup w/seasoning packet

1-1/2 cup uncooked minute rice

Store-bought chicken broth, optional

Boil chicken in a large pot with the bay leaf. When thoroughly cooked, remove to a platter to cool. Clean the broth by straining it. I sometimes discard half and use chicken broth for the rest of the liquid.

Add onions, celery, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, and the can of mixed vegetables. Simmer until potato chunks are tender. Meanwhile, clean chicken off bones and shred. Be careful not to include any small bones.

Comment: I invented this soup about 20 years ago, and it has never failed to please.

Have you ever made homemade chicken soup? It’s supposed to provide medicinal benefits for at least the common cold, and science backs that up. I just know it’s delicious. And soothing. And nothing warms a winter evening quite so well.

I’m thankful for each and every one of you!

Know what? I’d be as happy as turkey with a new snood if you would wander around my website a bit. To sign up to receive notices of new blogs, recipes, appearances and media news, leave your email address above. Y’all come back soon. I miss you already!

Book Two of the Silki series, CANYON OF DOOM, launched right before Christmas. It’s available in paperback…and soon in all eBook formats. Here’s a brief synopsis:

Stealing money isn’t the aim of the Mesa Redondo bank robbers. They want the mysterious metal object Silki and her best friend Birdie discovered in the bogs at Canyon Daacha. With Birdie headed up to Kayenta for the rest of the summer, Silki navigates wide-eyed and solo through a whirl of thievery, scary characters, lost artifacts, and a shadowy stranger Silki dubs “Amber Eyes.” Against a backdrop of Monsoon season floods and quicksand, Silki’s plight is complicated by the hateful slurs of a rebellious cousin her family must rescue before it’s too late. Soon, Silki finds herself smack dab in the middle of a plot stretching all the way back to World War II and reaching right into the very soul of her own family.

Pssst! – All media used in my blogs are either acquired by payment for their use, or don’t require licensing for public use. Often, I use my own personal photos. Please play it safe and don’t recycle images, okay? (P.S. This one of Bette Davis and Henry Fonda is free for all. Borrow like crazy if you want!)

I told you borrowing unauthorized media would sour your stomach.

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Jodi Lea Stewart was born in Texas and grew up in Apache County on a cattle ranch near Concho, Arizona. She left the University of Arizona in Tucson to move to San Francisco, where she learned about peace, love and exactly what she didn't want to do with her life. Since then, Jodi graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Business Management, raised two children, worked as an electro-mechanical drafter, penned humor columns for a college periodical, wrote regional western articles and served as managing editor of a Fortune company newsletter. She currently resides in Texas and New Mexico with her husband, two Standard poodles, two rescue cats and numerous gigantic, bossy houseplants. Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves: SUMMER OF THE ANCIENT is her first novel. CANYON OF DOOM is her second novel in the Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves series.

Add 3 or 4 kernels of uncooked popcorn to heated oil and cover with a lid. When kernels pop, add rest of popcorn kernels in an even layer. Cover, remove from heat and count 30 seconds. This helps all the kernels reach the same temperature and pop at about the same time.

Place pan back on heat. Cover with a vented lid. Without a steam vent, the popcorn will be tough. When popping begins, shake pan continuously over the burner until popping slows to several seconds between pops. Pour popcorn into a bowl and salt lightly.

Buttered Hot Chili Sauce

3 Tbls. butter

½ tsp. chili powder

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper, or to taste.

¼ tsp. oregano

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. onion powder

Melt butter in a small pan over low heat. Use the popcorn pan if desired. Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir until bubbly. Dribble over popped corn and toss with two forks. Serve. Keep fire extinguishers close by!

Makes about 2 to 2-1/2 quarts popped corn.

Comment: This is my own version of Texas Hot Chili Popcorn.

Your opinion matters to me! I’ll be as happy as a barn with a new coat of paint if you’d mosey around my new website a little. To sign up to receive notices of new blogs, recipes, appearances and media news, leave your email address above. I’ll take care of the rest. Y’all come back soon. I miss you already!

Stealing money isn’t the aim of the Mesa Redondo bank robbers. They want the mysterious metal object Silki and her best friend Birdie discovered in the bogs at Canyon Daacha. With Birdie headed up to Kayenta for the rest of the summer, Silki navigates wide-eyed and solo through a whirl of thievery, scary characters, lost artifacts, and a shadowy stranger Silki dubs “Amber Eyes.” Against a backdrop of Monsoon season floods and quicksand, Silki’s plight is complicated by the hateful slurs of a rebellious cousin her family must rescue before it’s too late. Soon, Silki finds herself smack dab in the middle of a plot stretching all the way back to World War II and reaching right into the very soul of her own family.

Pssst! – All media used in my blogs are either acquired by payment for their use or don’t require licensing for public use. Often, I use my own personal photos. Please play it safe and don’t recycle images, okay? (P.S. This one of Maureen O’Hara is free for all. Borrow like crazy if you want!)

Every time John brings me flowers, I worry that he’s borrowing unauthorized media again.

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Jodi Lea Stewart was born in Texas and grew up in Apache County on a cattle ranch near Concho, Arizona. She left the University of Arizona in Tucson to move to San Francisco, where she learned about peace, love and exactly what she didn't want to do with her life. Since then, Jodi graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Business Management, raised two children, worked as an electro-mechanical drafter, penned humor columns for a college periodical, wrote regional western articles and served as managing editor of a Fortune company newsletter. She currently resides in Texas and New Mexico with her husband, two Standard poodles, two rescue cats and numerous gigantic, bossy houseplants. Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves: SUMMER OF THE ANCIENT is her first novel. CANYON OF DOOM is her second novel in the Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves series.

Prepare onion, carrots, and celery. Sauté in large heavy skillet in 2 Tbls. Butter. Add light amount of salt and pepper. Remove from pan with slotted spoon while vegetables are still tender-crisp. Set aside. Cut pork pieces and shake with flour in a plastic bag. Turn into heavy skillet. Add 2 Tbls. butter and 2 Tbls. olive oil. Turn with wooden spoon until browned on all sides. Add bay leaf, black pepper, 1 tsp. salt, cooking wine and water. Add several shakes of red pepper flakes if desired. Bring to a boil while stirring. Reduce heat and simmer covered approximately 30 minutes or until pork is fork tender. Be careful to keep fire low and stir often.

Wash and cut cabbage head into wedges. Bring 1 cup water and 1 tsp. salt to a boil in a large skillet or large-bottomed pan. Over medium heat, cook covered for 10-12 minutes until tender-crisp. Cook a second layer of cabbage wedges the same way, or do all the wedges at once by stacking them double decker. Bottom layer will be saltier if stacking wedges double. Remove and drain on paper towels a few minutes. Arrange with tongs and/or spatula on a serving dish. Sprinkle with more red pepper flakes, salt or pepper if desired.

If you like Sassy, Danger and Mystery … you’ll love my novel! I hope you’ll pick up a copy of Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves: SUMMER OF THE ANCIENT. It’s available at your nearest Barnes & Noble Bookseller (note: ask them to order it from their Master List…they know it’s on there! :D), on my website, B&N.com and Amazon. For your convenience, it’s also available for Kindle, the Nook and most other eBook readers.

Book Two of the Silki series, CANYON OF DOOM, debuts in early 2013. Watch for it!

While you’re here, I’d be pleased as a frog in a jar of flies if you’d have a look around my website. To sign up to receive notices of new blogs, recipes, appearances and media news, leave your email address above. I’ll take care of the rest. Y’all come back soon … I miss you already!

Pssst! – All media used in my blogs are either acquired by payment for their use or don’t require licensing for public use. Often, I use my own personal photos. Please play it safe and don’t recycle images, okay? (P.S. This one of Cary Grant is free for all! Borrow like crazy if you want!)

If I ever escape this field, I’ll never use unauthorized media again!

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Jodi Lea Stewart was born in Texas and grew up in Apache County on a cattle ranch near Concho, Arizona. She left the University of Arizona in Tucson to move to San Francisco, where she learned about peace, love and exactly what she didn't want to do with her life. Since then, Jodi graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Business Management, raised two children, worked as an electro-mechanical drafter, penned humor columns for a college periodical, wrote regional western articles and served as managing editor of a Fortune company newsletter. She currently resides in Texas and New Mexico with her husband, two Standard poodles, two rescue cats and numerous gigantic, bossy houseplants. Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves: SUMMER OF THE ANCIENT is her first novel. CANYON OF DOOM is her second novel in the Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves series.

Mix or sift together dry ingredients. Cut in butter until crumbly. I use two knives, then my hands until the butter is nearly as fine as cornmeal. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add wet ingredients, including parsley. Mix together until dough sticks together and releases from the side of the bowl. It will be slightly sticky, like biscuit dough. Turn onto a floured surface and knead a few quick turns to even out the dough. Don’t over knead. Form into a rounded loaf approximately 2 to 2-1/2-inches thick. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and place loaf on top smoothing out the top and sides. Cut an X into the top if desired. Bake at 350-degrees for 35-45 minutes. If the top browns too quickly, cover with foil until done. Use a skewer to check if the bread is cooked. When it comes out clean, the soda bread is done. Let it rest on a rack for a few minutes, then place on serving dish. Cut into wedges or slices. Wrap leftover loaf well. Discard after two days.

To make farls:

Flatten soda bread dough into a round circle and divide into farls *four parts*. Some people cut it into eight parts. Cook 5-10 minutes per side on a pre-heated griddle lightly dusted with flour. Again, use a skewer to see if the farls are cooked. Let cool on a wire rack. Serve warm with butter and/or jam and whatever else you love on a biscuit, because that’s what soda bread closely resembles in flavor.

Comment: This recipe came from Nola (Heart Land) on Facebook. She said her friend, Alberta’s Song, sent it to her. “Alberta’s Song” said that was a name given to her by her grandfather, and that whenever she sings or writes, she uses that name. Okay then!

Comment: I made this bread at high altitude, so I had to add a little more buttermilk and baked it a little less time. I also added herbs.

Comment: If making the bread or farls for jam or honey, consider leaving out the herbs.

Comment: I served my herbed Irish soda bread with an old-fashioned pork stew surrounded by steamed cabbage wedges. Want the recipe for the stew? Click here!

If you like Sassy, Danger and Mystery … you’ll love my novel! I hope you’ll pick up a copy of Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves: SUMMER OF THE ANCIENT. It’s available at your nearest Barnes & Noble Bookseller (note: ask them to order it from their Master List…they know it’s on there! :D), on my website, B&N.com and Amazon. For your convenience, it’s also available for Kindle, the Nook and most other eBook readers.

Book Two of the Silki series, CANYON OF DOOM, debuts in early 2013. Watch for it!

While you’re here, I’d be pleased as a frog in a jar of flies if you’d have a look around my website. To sign up to receive notices of new blogs, recipes, appearances and media news, leave your email address above. I’ll take care of the rest. Y’all come back soon … I miss you already!

Pssst! – All media used in my blogs are either acquired by payment for their use or don’t require licensing for public use. Sometimes I use my own personal photos. Please play it safe and don’t recycle images, okay? (P.S. This one of Maureen O’Hara is free for all! Borrow like crazy if you want!)

Every time John brings me flowers, I worry that he’s using unauthorized media again!

Share this:

Like this:

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Jodi Lea Stewart was born in Texas and grew up in Apache County on a cattle ranch near Concho, Arizona. She left the University of Arizona in Tucson to move to San Francisco, where she learned about peace, love and exactly what she didn't want to do with her life. Since then, Jodi graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Business Management, raised two children, worked as an electro-mechanical drafter, penned humor columns for a college periodical, wrote regional western articles and served as managing editor of a Fortune company newsletter. She currently resides in Texas and New Mexico with her husband, two Standard poodles, two rescue cats and numerous gigantic, bossy houseplants. Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves: SUMMER OF THE ANCIENT is her first novel. CANYON OF DOOM is her second novel in the Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves series.